Controlled fluid dispensing container



June 9, 1953 H. D. RlVE-S 2,641,385

- CONTROLLED FLUID DISPENSING 'GONTAINER Filed April 20, 1951 INVENTORIficr/co /zwfi. Fives Patented June 9, 1953 CONTROLLED FLUID DISPENSINGTAINER Halcolm D. Rives, Los Angeles, Galifi, assignor to SwingspoutMeasure Company, Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of CaliforniaApplication April 20, 1951, Serial No. 222,101

CON

3 Claims.

. This invention is concerned with a controlled fluid dispensingcontainerand it is. a. general ob.- J'ect' of the invention. to providean effective, dependable, easily operated device that is inexpen siveof. manufacture.

- Various fluids, and. particularly motor oils, are handled or dispensedin containers of particularzsizes or capacities and it. is common toprovide. such containers with flexible or shiftable spouts forconducting fluid to points where it is required. to be. used ordeposited. It has long been recognized as desirable or advantageous toprovide a container or dispensing device of the character mentioned witha control to govern flow from the. body of the container to the spout,and devices or mechanisms that, have been proposed. and, in some cases,used for this purpose have-for the most part, been rather expensive andtend to be complicated in construction.

- It is a general object of this invention to provide a container orfluid dispensing device of the general character referred to having acontrol or valvevgoverning flow'from the body of the. container to thedelivery spout, the valve being un der control of a manually operatedmeans by which it can be opened to any degree and by a manually releasedgripping means which serves to catch and hold it in any position towhich it is moved and which is readily releasable bysimpie manualoperation.

Another object of this invention is to providea device or structure ofthe generalcharacter reierred. to in which the body of. the container isequipped with an inwardly projecting lip crowned in form, as in commonin devices of this general character, which device has the. parts so ar:ranged and related that the entire gripping means, save the manuallyaccessible portion, is within the cavity defined by thelip.v

It is a further object of this invention to provide a. container of thegeneral character referred to wherein the gripping means which serves togrip and hold the valve operating mechanism. is formed by and involves asingle part which is of very simple, inexpensive form, construction andmounting. In the construction of the present invention the container hasa body that is cylindrical in form. A bottom is provided in the body atthe lower portion thereof, there being a skirt portion of the bodydepending below the bottom forming a chamber at the lower end or bottomof the structure. A lip is provided at the upper end of the body and.may be of the form and typecommon to devices of this character, that is,it may be crowned in cross-section or substantially half round'and mayhave its outer edge fixed or se- 2 cured to the upper end of the bodywhile its inner edge is inward of the upper end. of the body and is inabout the same plane as the outer edge. A handle is provided on the bodyand pretferably involves an. upper arm projecting outwardly or away fromthe body at the upper end portion thereof, and a lower arm projectingout.- wardly from the body at the lower end portion thereof, forinstance, from the skirt. A grip extends between thearms: and, inpractice, the arms: and grip are formed of a single continuous element,elongate in form. andv having its ends fixed. or secured to the exteriorof. the body. A discharge means is provided and, in a typical case,involves a section located in the chamber at the lower end of the bodyand in communication with the interior or fluid carrying compartment ofthe. bodythrough an. opening in the bottom. Another section of thedischarge means is joined to or extends from the first. mentionedsection and. may be shiftable or flexible in, the manner common. todevices of this general character. A valve islprovided to controlflow offluid from the.- compartment defined by the, body to the discharge meansor spout, and a. manually actuated operating means isv provided foroperating. the valve. In a preferred. arrangement the valve operatingmeans involves a stem with a portion located in the body anda portionaccessible at the exterior of the body. The stem may be slidably carriedby the lip by a bracket in the body so that the manually engageableportion is above. the lipand is accessible to a. thumb or finger ofahandengaging the" handle. A lever operatively connects the stem andvalve and maybe pivotally mounted with one arm connectedor linked; tothe lower end of the stem while an.- other arm carries the valve. Asuitable means such as a sprin normally yieldingly holds the stem. in aposition. where the lever operated by the stem holds the valve closed,thus preventing flow of fluid from the body or compartment to thedischarge spout. The invention provides a manually operable. releasablegripping means that serves to: catch and hold the valve operating meansupon its being moved to any degree or extent from the position where thevalve is closed. This gripping means is. preferably confined to the lipor upper end portion of the structure where the lip is located, and it.is characterized by a single element anchoredto or mounted. on the bodyor apart thereof, such as the lip, and having a free flexible arm thatcarries a jaw engaged with the stem of the valve operating means. Anactuating element projects from the jaw through an opening in the lipand presents a manually engageable part at the exterior of 3 thestructure in position to be conveniently actuated by the thumb or fingerof a hand engaged with the handle. The structure is such that simplemanual depression of the actuating element frees the gripping means,allowing the spring of the spring actuating means to immediately returnthe valve to the closed position and this I is regardless of the extentto which the operating means has been previously actuated. I

The various objects and features of my invention will be fullyunderstood from the following detailed description of typical preferredforms and applications of my invention, throughout which descriptionreference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a structure embodying the presentinvention, a portion thereof being broken away to show details of themechanism involved. Fig. 2 is an enlarged view taken substantially asindicated by line 2-2 on Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of aportion of the structure taken as indicated by line 33 on Fig. 1. Fig. 4is a detailed sectional view through the portion of the structure shownin Fig. 3, being a view taken in the direction indicated by line 4-4 onFig. 3. Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken as indicated by line5-5 on Fig. 3.

, around the upper end of the body or container and it serves to definea cavity 23 that opens downwardly or faces into the compartment I3.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detailed sectional view taken I tainer to thespout and Fig. 9 is a view illustrating a modified form of hookconstruction suit-.

able for retaining the spout in a predetermined position when thestructure is not in use.

The structure embodying or to which the present invention is appliedinvolves a container A formed by a body I 0 having a bottom II andpreferably provided with a lip I2 at its upper end. The container isprovided with a handle B and a discharge means or spout mechanism C isprovided to handle fluid from the container. A valve Dis provided tocontrol flow from the container to the spout and an operating means E isprovided for actuating the valve. A manually operable releasablegripping means G is pro vided to catch and hold the means E upon itsbeing actuated to any degree from a position where the valve D is closedand is adapted to be manually operated to free the means Er so that itoperates the valve to a closed position. In a typical construction, thebody I!) of th container is a vertically disposed cylindrical elementand the bottom I I is fixed in the lower portion of the cylindrical bodyclosing it and establishing a fluid carrying compartment I3. In

The flange lip provided on the upper end of body I0 as hereinabovedescribed and as illustrated throughout the drawings serves as a gaugeindicating the extent to which fluid is filled into the container andserves to effectively check or retard spilling of fluid from thecontainer in the course of normal operation of the device.

The handle B is provided at the exterior of the container and a typicalhandle such as is shown in the drawings involves an upper armsoprojecting outwardly or away from the body at the upper end portionthereof, a lower arm 3i projecting outwardly from the body at the lowerend portion thereof, and a hand grip carried by and extending betweenthe arms. In the case illustrated, the arm 30 is joined to the body atthe upper end thereof adjacent the lip I2 and it projects outwardly oraway from the body at a point opposite or in substantially horizontalalignment with the lip. The lower arm 3I is joined to or projects fromthe skirt portion I4 of the body. The portions 30, 3I and 32 of thehandle are in the nature of a single elongate member or structure, theends of which are joined to the body as at points 33 and 34. l

' The discharge means C provided for handling fluid from the containermay, insofar as the present invention is concerned, be varied widely inform and construction. In the particular case illustrated, the means Cinvolves two sections, an inner section 35 that is located in thechamber I5 and an outer section 36 which is joined to or carried by thesection 35 which occurs at the exterior of the structure and is in theform of a the container through an opening 38 provided in the bottom I Iof the container. The other end of section 35 projects through or isaccessible at an opening I6 provided in the skirt portion of the bodyIII. The section 36 of the discharge means is shiftable or flexible andin the particuaccordance with typical or conventional'construction, thebody has a skirt portion I4 depending from or projecting somewhatdownwardly below the bottom I I forming an open chamber I5 at the lowerend portion of the structure. The skirt opens downwardly and is providedwith a plurality of side openings I6, making it apparent that thechamber I 5 exists in the structure below the bead I! provided aroundthe bottom I4 where the bottom II occurs.

At the upper end of the body I0 it has a lip a 1 lar case illustrated itis an elongate flexible tube having one end fixed to and in communi'ca'tion with the fitting 35 while its other endearries a suitable nozzle39. The section 36 which is, in effect, aspout is of substantial lengthand in the drawings I have illustrated a retaining means in the form ofa hook 40 serving to releasably hold the section 36 in an up orsubstantially vertical position when the structure is not in'use, In theform of the invention shown in Figsfl and 2 of the drawings, the hook 40is of simple form and includes a shank 4I pivoted to the body at 42 andhas a head 43 shaped to be hooked around the spout section 33.

In Fig. 9, I illustrate a form of hook ll) wheree in there are twospaced parallel arms II pivoted to the body at 42 and having opposedhook parts 43 and outer ends between which the spout section 36 isreceived.

The valve operating means E may vary widely in form and construction.,In the drawings-I mam mounting on the stem by meansxof the lip tz and abracket 56 provided in thebody t0. this menstruation is employed; an"ooemng' fll is provided, in the lip I2 f' and: slidably ypasses the stemSilvano a-bracket=- 56 is fixed to the inner Walk or body and" protectsinwardly therefrom below the:z-openingr1t l"ands'zhasan :o em'rrg Fillsltdably passing theistem 50a. Iir accorclamce with V the invention" thestem: 5011s: as above= described sov that the portiowie thereof projectsabove thei container or above the: lip" :2 of the. container in theimmediate vicinity ofiitnahandle, that at a" point close to the: arm130i or the handle. By thus locatmathe stemi imitsexposea portion 5-5 isreadily "accessiblertoaa thumb- "or nngerwof a'hancl griqrping'thehamlle13. For purpose of convenience provide a suitable: knob worttheuppervoriterminal.c nde -oi stem'rportion. 50,:as shown throughout thedrawings.

'rhezlever- 5i is located in thevcompartment. re and; in the-caseillustrated; it iscarried byxarprvot' pin 61 supportedby iaisiritableibracket szc; which projects up from the bottomi ii of the'contamer,Ths'lever 51 1183 anrar'm ficfwhich is linkedri'or connected; to thelovrer end of thestem' 5tl -andlit has-an: arm'- 64 whichcarriesrtheavalven, :In' the particular construction? illustrated, i.the f connection provided by the lower end of the sterrti Mandithearmrea allows certain limited. movement or flexibility between-these:parts and is in the' torm ora log to 'projecting fromthe erid oi armfis'and engaged- 111 an opening: 1 l prcvidedlhr the fiat-- tenedlowerend 12 of western. 'Ihe lever 5| firearms sir-ande1is'normallysubstantially =horirent/11 in the lower portionofcompartment i=3, except for the terminal end "portion mofi the arm13"'which projects downwardlyand occurs over or 1ine with the" crooning38 provided in the bottom i l of the contalnerl The valve D is carriedby the depending i-o-r downwardly proj ec-ting' portion 14 of arm and inthe form: of'constructiorrillustratedi it involves a disclike body 80 ofsuitable seali-ng material cal'rled-"betix een two rigiddiscs or. platesHand 82. The body fidof theva-lve projects radial-1y byeast the discsfil-and'fllrand is adapted to=seaton or" have sealing engagement, withthdbottom H- where itsul'rorzndsthe" opening 38'. The valve parts just"described "maybe mounted onor -se.-- cured-to the lever arm 14' in anysuitablemanner. m the case illustrated, the valve "parts are providedwith a centralregistering'sslot which re cives' a tease which projectsdown from thearm rortion '14, the tab being-spreader wrath-at" the valvparts are maintained on the" valve:

The spring 52 isprovided to normally yieldingl y hold the'ste'm'ifl inan up position so that the lever 5 I is held in position Where the valveD is closed. In the case'illustratecl, the spring"52 is a helicalcompression spring carried on the lower portion 54 of the stem betweenthe bracket {Wanda stop 'lBprovidedon the-stem.

the -com- 6 whererthewalve n is elosed. ."lrhe-"nreans-ussischaracterized by an elongate sfieadbl esrarm mac having one: endf fixed:or anchored to the R: tamer," as; for 'lnstance,= to'-itheeontasinerrtlrrough suitable meanssuch as fastenersxdt. Themearrs Grusrther' inoludesta; gripping jaw- St on orpro jecting' fromthe-otherness: tree endaofi the flexible arm-and: .an'ractuatirrg'celement 93 protects from the portion: accessibleatlthecexe terior ofithe: container'so that itivcan be readily actuatedmanually;

'L'Il reiil exible arm; the jaw 52,: and the actuatingeiemenm'iexceptffori the: porttons'requiredsat the exterior-or: thestructure-,,:: are preferably located entirelywithintheficontainer'iandit. is preferred that they be located entirelyzwithin thedownwanrdlyrzopenin Z3' provided lnxor formed by the: [tofithecontainer;

armxw i'spreferably; an: elongate member ofsuitable; length aardrasshownirrr'tgi iti'spretcurvedorarouate and or thesamesourvaa ture as"the neck. t'zp so' that itextends' around: within; the cavity zawitnclearance or freel'ofi the parts "The-anchored vo: 'fixedaend: $4

amine-(Isis preferablyrounded or: shaped to conform to, the inner?surface or side of the lip l2.- impracticer -the fastening means 5|employed to anchor or secure: the end. 94 to. the: lip may suitable:means I have shown; screw fasteners serving; this, purpose. .The, freecrflexible portion of: armml extends around and; somewhat downfward" from;the anchored: end: 94 sorthattthe Vireo end: 96 i of the arm is spacedaiconsiderable ;dLs.-

tame below the to or crown of: the' lip.

The j'aw-.-92--mav be a flat plate-alike portion projecting: orcontinuing from the free endrllttoi. the: arm and it has anopening'a'bthatl passesthe stem 1510 of the means. E. In-accordance-wlththe inventionther jaw or plate. 9% extends beyond the-end of the armrsll and somewhatnpwardssc thatvthei-mane ofithe-jaw is pitched orinclined relative-tethelongitudinal axis oi the stem. -Theopening-Mainthe-body that passes the stem. in somewhat. larger-than. isrequired to pass the stem andthesizesoithe opening 9!- is related to thepitch orvangular dispositionof the jaw so that normally diametricallyopposite edge portions 9'8 ofi theopenmgslfll engage or grip the'stem.The arm "91!! and" the. jaw 92. are shapedaridproportionedso'that thearm '96 normally yieldingily urges the. jaw upwardly or in a manner tocause gripping of. thestem by the law.

'The actuating element 93. of. means G preferablyv-carried by orprojects from. the" jaw, for instance theupper edge/portion of the jaw,and ithas ashank portion [00 that. projects upwardly through'an openingflll' provided in the .111 I2. The opening I01, passes the shank I G0with clearance. The portion of. the shank. projecting above the lip'I'Z' fOrmsapart conveniently accessible 'from'the exterioriof thestructure so that the thejawfifform, ineffact; a continuation orextensicnof' thearm 9%) and combine with the arm to format! arcuate' orcurved unitthat'extends aromid'w'ithin thecavity 23 in-amanner clearlyillustratedinFig. 2 of the'drawings. j In accordance with the presentinventi on,;it;is preferredthat the jaw92 and the actuating element 93be formedof a single body or strip of mate rial so that they form asimple, com-pact element that is very simple and inexpensive of manu-;

In operating the structure, a suitable fluid,

say, for instance, oil, can be filled into the. con-.!

tainer, and under normal conditions the .valve operating means E holdsthe valve D closed. The.

container carrying the desired quantity of fluid can be manipulated orhandled in any suitable manner, and when it is desired to" deliver ordeposit the fluid the spout section 36 freed from the hook 40 can beswung or flexed in any suitable manner, for instance, to extenddownwardly or in any suitable direction from the container,

When desired to discharge the material from the container, the operatordepresses the stem 50, as by engaging the knob 60, and, in practice, thestem 50 can be depressed any suitable degree to open the valve D thedesired amount. stem 50 moves downwardly or is depressed, it slidesthrough the jaw and is caught or held by the jaw so that it cannot moveupwardly under the influence of spring 50 after the operator hasreleased downward pressure from the stem. The jaw 92 operated by the arm90 will maintain its hold or grip upon the stem until the operatordesires to release the mechanism so that spring 52 closes the valve D.To effect release of the mechanism and the closing of the valve, the

immediately operate the stem vertically, with the result that the lever51 is operated so that the valveD is closed. v

Having described only typical preferred'forms and applications of myinvention, I do not wish to be limited or restricted to the specificdetails herein set forth, but wish to reserve to myself any variationsor modifications that may appear to As the those skilled in the art andfall wi-thin the scope of the following claims.

Having described my invention, I claim: I

1. A liquid handling device including, a con tainer having a cylindricalbody, a bottom at the lower portion of the body and an inwardlyprojecting lip extending around the upper end of flow from the body tothe spout, operating means for the valve including, a lever pivoted inthe body and carrying the valve, a stem connected to the lever andprojecting upwardly to a point above the lip and in the vicinityof thehandle, and a spring normally holding the stem in a ment projecting fromraised position with the valve in aclosed posi--;

tion, and stem gripping meansincluding, a;flex-;

ible arm having one end fixed tothe container,';

a jaw carriedlby the arm and normally held thereby in grippingengagement with the stem, and an actuating part at the exterior of thecontainera-nd in the vicinity of the handle and depressible to releasethe grip of the jaw, the arm and jaw forming an elongatecurvedrpartconfined in said cavity.

2. A" liquid handling device including, a container having a cylindricalbody, a bottom at the lower portion of the body and an inwardly pro-.

jecting lip extending around the upper end of the body, the lip beingcrowned in cross section and defining an annular downwardly facing.

cavity, a spout in communication with the body through the bottom :andhaving a section shiftable relative to the container, a handlejon thecontainer at the exterior of the body with a por-v tion in the vicinityof the lip, a valve controlling flow from the body to the spout,operating means for the valve including, a lever pivoted in the body andcarrying the valve, a stem connected to the lever and projectingupwardly to apoint above the lip and in the vicinity of the handle, anda spring normally holding the stem in a raised position with the valvein a'closed position, and stem gripping means including, an elongateflexible arm having one end fixed to the lip in said cavity, a grippingjaw below the .lip on the other end of the arm and having an openingpassing the stem and having edges gripping the s tem,.and a manuallyoperated actuating ele--' the jaw and to a point above the lip. i

'3. A liquid handling device including, a containenhaving a cylindricalbody, a bottom at the lower portion of the body and an inwardlyprojecting lip extending around the upper end of the body, the lip beingcrowned'in cross section and defining an annular downwardly facingcavity, a spout in communication with the body through the bottom andhaving a section shiftable relative to the container, a handle on thecontainer at the exterior of the body with a portion in the vicinity ofthe lip avalve controlling flow from the body to the spout, operatingmeans for the valve including, a lever pivoted in the body and carryingthe valve, a stem connected to the lever and projecting upwardly to apoint above the lip and in the vicinity of the handle, and a springnormally holding the stem in a raised position with the valve in aclosed position, and stem gripping means including, an elongate flexiblearm having one end fixed to the lip in said cavity, a gripping jaw belowthe lip on the other end ofthe arm and having an opening passing thestem and having edges gripping the stem, and a manuallyoperatedactuating elementprojecting from the jaw and to a point above the lip,the lip having spaced openings in the vicinity of the handle and passingthe stem and said element.

HALCOLYM D. RIVES.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,098,307 Webb et al May 26, 1914 1,516,706 Brooliins Nov. 25,1924 1,555,176 Allen Sept. 29, 1925 1,577,929 Oakes Mar. 23, 19261,579,390 Peaden Apr. 6, 1 926- 1,664,560 Hughes Apr. 3, 1928

